A wide variety of tools, sometimes referred to as wallboard taping knives, are used to apply surface compounds, such as pliable plaster or joint or spackling compounds, to cover joints, edges, etc., between pieces of wallboard (e.g., gypsum plaster board) during drywall construction or to repair wall board in the event of damage. These tools consist of a relatively wide, planar and thin blade, usually made of an appropriate steel, with a manipulating handle attached to the blade and extending from the rear edge of the blade, opposite its working edge. The blade is flexible to allow the working edge to apply, spread, shape and smooth surface compounds so that the compound dries as a near-finished part of the wallboard surface. Thereafter, the dried compound can be lightly sanded (if desired) to present a smooth continuous surface over the installed or repaired wallboard.
A user will typically remove a desired amount of surface compound from a mixing or storage container and then deposit the compound on a tray or a pan, commonly referred to as a “hawk,” which is held by the user in one hand while he/she uses a conventional wallboard taping knife in the other hand to remove compound from the tray and apply the compound to a wallboard surface. While the flexible, planar blades of wallboard taping knives are useful for applying, spreading, shaping and smoothing surface compounds onto wallboard surfaces, it can be difficult to remove the compounds from mixing or storage containers using the blades of these conventional knives. As a result, surface compound is often wasted because it dries inside the mixing or storage container. In addition, attempts at removing the compound from the mixing or storage container sometimes results in compound getting on the handle of the knife and on the user's hands.
There have been a number of attempts at addressing the problems associated with conventional surface compound tools. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,624,145 to Swilley; U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,997 to Lehn et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,227 to Lent describe tools for removing pliable surface compounds from large containers for transfer to a hawk. These tools all have an elongate handle with a hand grip around one end and a scoop base which is fastened to and extends perpendicularly from the other end of the handle. The tool is thrust into surface compound contained within a mixing or storage container, such as a pail or bucket, so that a quantity of the compound is gathered on the scoop base. The tool is then removed from the container by lifting upward on the handle with the scoop following beneath until the scoop clears the top of the container. Then the compound is deposited from the scoop onto a hawk. A curved outer edge of the scoop can be used to scrape material off the side of the container during this process, as necessary. However, even these improved tools for transferring surface compound are awkward to use, particularly with respect to inserting the scoop base and elongate handle into a relatively deep or shallow containers (e.g., the five (5) gallon and one (1) gallon containers, respectively, typically used to store many surface compounds), and the need to translate the scoop base into a relatively vertical position to deposit the surface compound from the scoop base. Although the prior art has shown tools somewhat effective in removing compounds from storage containers, those prior art tools cannot easily transfer compounds used in pliable spackling compounds and the like.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved tools for transferring surface compounds from the mixing or storage container to a tray for application on a wallboard surface. The improved tool should enable the user to easily and efficiently remove the desired amount of compound from the container while minimizing the amount of wasted compound on the inside surface of the container and the inadvertent transfer of compound from the container wall to the tool handle or hand of the user. In addition this improved tool has a relatively wide blade for removing substantial amounts of compound, without wasting material that may fall off a narrow blade while being transferred. Therefore this tool has additional advantage over tools in the prior art.